The scam is simple. Criminals buy car-key cloning devices (the internet is full of them) and pick their victim.

As the innocent motorist tries to lock the car, the signal is blocked by an RF jammer. The punter walks away, unknowingly leaving the car open, the criminal then plugs an information reader into the onboard diagnostic socket and reprograms a blank key and drives it away.

Most vans end up in Poland and Lithuania. Cars are broken into parts and shipped round the world, while high-end stuff goes to Russia. A visible anti-theft will make any blagger think again.

The problem centres around easily-bought key programmers. Key data is available because EU law says manufacturers have to share technical info with independent garages ...and reprogramming blank keys is easy.

Some insurance companies arenít paying out because a key has been used and claim itís the ownerís fault. Another scam is if you see a note under the wiper of your posh wheels from a motorist whoís dinged your car, donít accept his offer of a dent bloke to sort it out. Heíll come, fix the scratch and slip in a key reader. A month later your pride and joyís gone.